Episode 491: How innovation really works, with Dr. Anne Marie.

Dr. Anne Marie Knott is the author of “HOW INNOVATION REALLY WORKS: Using The Trillion-Dollar R&D Fix To Drive Growth.” She is a Professor of Strategy at the Olin Business School at Washington University, and prior to her position at Olin, Dr. Knott served as Assistant Professor of Management at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Her primary research area is innovation – both large-scale R&D and entrepreneurship, which stems from her previous career at Hughes Aircraft Company developing missile guidance systems. Her research has received two grants from the National Science Foundation and has been covered by CNBC, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and the Wall Street Journal. She has published numerous articles in Harvard Business Review and many other publications.

What you’ll learn about in this episode

Anne Marie’s background and her innovation research

Anne Marie’s work on missile guidance systems

How the “Mary Poppins philosophy” helps Anne Marie be productive

Why making work fun is the key to accomplishing things

How to chunk your day to improve your productivity and creativity

Why many successful people lose sight of their accomplishments

Why it’s important to have good intuition about what will drive a company’s growth

How Anne Marie developed a way to measure R&D

Why new ideas are critical

How everyday activities are different from strategies

Why it’s important to keep sight of your strategy

Why business owners should revisit their larger plans on a regular basis